Save Valley Conservancy location<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nRoy Bhilla, Member of Parliament for Chiredzi North, played a key role in the breakthrough.<\/p>\n
He spent the previous week engaging adamant villagers, assuring them they would be relocated in permissible areas around the conservancy. He assured them of the aforementioned benefits.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have been having sleepless nights trying to find solutions to this standoff since government is concerned not to let the (EU) money go. My task is now easier because we have agreed to have this project kick off,\u201d Bhila said.<\/p>\n
Chief Gudo, who also attended the meeting, hailed the resolution and pledged his support to the initiative.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am now in support of the proposal because conservancy owners and government had indicated that none of my people will lose their land permanently since they will be assisted to settle elsewhere. This has been the most sticking issue,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Weldon Schenck, Chairman for Save Valley Conservancy, said his organisation would embark on a five-year plan to restore sanity at the conservancy.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the moment the conservancy is in shambles,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Villagers have over the years tempered with some infrastructure such as fencing. There have been rampant poaching.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow that we have reached common ground, we are going to plan on how we can make the conservancy great again. We have the knowledge and ideas on how to take conservation and tourism back to normal,\u201d Schenck said.<\/p>\n
Addressing guests at a briefing in Triangle last month ahead of the Masvingo Environment and Tourism Indaba, Environment, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Prisca Mupfumira said Government had lost millions of dollars due to the two decade long confusion which has fuelled the surge in human-wildlife conflict and poaching.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have an ongoing exercise which we are undertaking in partnership with the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement on the removal of illegal settlers mainly in wildlife sanctuaries,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere in Chiredzi, we have issues at Save Valley Conservancy and some parts of Gonarezhou National Park. We know the Members of Parliament here are against this move because they would start saying our voters are now being affected, but the country, the party (Zanu-PF) and the generality of Zimbabweans have suffered due to this confusion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Minister Mupfumira said the country could not continue ignoring the continued destruction of the environment by illegal occupants.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have recorded cases of illegal gold panning in the middle of the conservancy, there is rampant cutting down of our trees,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has tarnished the image of our country, you cannot expect tourists to visit a conservancy which has been affected by land degradation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to arrest all those who are fuelling this. We want to punish all those who are working against the environment. This disorder must be sorted in no time, we want the conservancy to be fenced so that we address the rising cases of human wildlife conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n
Save Valley is one the internationally recognised animal sanctuaries.<\/p>\n
Its problems created some bad relations between government and the international community.<\/p>\n
Most of the facilities in the conservancy are under the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPPA) with South Africa.<\/p>\n
BIPPA exempts South African investments in Zimbabwe from takeover.<\/p>\n
The Great Limpopo Trans-frontier Park will link South Africa\u2019s Kruger National Park, Zimbabwe\u2019s Gonarezhou and Mozambique\u2019s Limpopo national parks culminating in 350\u2009000 km2 park.<\/p>\n
About Save Conservancy<\/strong><\/p>\nThe Save Valley Conservancy was formed as a result of the coming together of a number of circumstances. The first was that an epic drought brought an end to cattle ranching and agricultural endeavour in the area and with it, the realisation that wildlife was the only viable future for the area. This dovetailed perfectly with the arrival of the first Black Rhino which had been moved from the Zambezi Valley where they were being poached to extinction. <\/p>\n
A few enormous ranches were subdivided and sold in lots. These attracted local, regional and international investors; all keen to be a part of the new conservation vision that officially became the Save Valley Conservancy in 1991 when the constitution was signed by all parties.<\/p>\n
All internal fences were removed from an area totalling 3,442sq km and a 350 km double perimeter fence was constructed. Approximately 4,000 animals of 14 species were reintroduced, including elephants in the largest translocation of that species ever undertaken. <\/p>
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
AN almost two-decade deadlock between conservancy owners and Zimbabwean villagers that forcibly occupied parts of one of the biggest sanctuaries in the country has at last been resolved, paving way for the establishment of one of the world\u2019s biggest inter-country park. The resolution of the … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1154,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[81],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/zimwonders.co.zw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/save-valley.jpg?fit=600%2C450&ssl=1","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paVs5M-iz","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":692,"url":"https:\/\/zimwonders.co.zw\/index.php\/2019\/04\/28\/zimbabwe-parks-and-wildlife-management-authority-wins-gold\/","url_meta":{"origin":1151,"position":0},"title":"Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority Wins Gold","date":"April 28, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority won a gold medal for the Zimbabwean Best Exhibit in the Travel and Tourism sector at the just ended Zimbabwean International Trade Fair (ZITF) held in Zimbabwe's second largest city, Bulawayo. 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